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Before we start, I wanted to share a somewhat unnerving experience over the weekend: I read this.

Set aside the politics, of course, though the piece really does not take sides of any kind.

Just look at the writing.

Now, Howard Fineman, it should be understood, is from Pittsburgh, so he has quite the head start in describing our city, certainly more than many in the national media will have when trying to do likewise between now and the primary. Our very own Stats Geek aptly pointed that out Sunday.

Still ...

To be able to write with the clarity, the brevity, the descriptiveness that Fineman displayed in that piece is, I think, an innate gift. Again, never mind the topic, whether politics or Pittsburgh. Look at the picture that you have painted, of our people, our diverse neighborhoods, how misunderstood we are. And then, consider this magnificent sentence: "The largest employers include medical centers, the University of Pittsburgh, PNC Bank and Mellon Financial Corp. Pitt and Carnegie Mellon have spawned a fertile digital culture to match the medical one; programmers, painters and poets are flocking to stately old neighborhoods."

In that last phrase alone, a span of 11 measly words, he sums up everything that is happening in Lawrenceville, Oakland, Garfield, Bloomfield, South Side, East Liberty and other growing places. And he does it, as if to rub it in, with some underlying alliteration.

Makes me furious.

Readers sometimes will write to ask me my favorite sports writers, and my answer always is that I just enjoy quality writing of any kind. And the above is the best I have read, in any genre, in many months.

Anyway, while Paul Meyer covers the team in Florida, we still take Qs from the home office ...

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Q: The outfield ...

Xavier Nady: .097 batting average, one home run, two RBIs

Jason Bay: .200, no home runs, three RBIs

Steve Pearce: .263, four home runs, 10 RBIs

I think it was a good move sending Pearce down to the minors. It was a great experience for him to be in the big-league camp. I think he should be ready to get called up in two or three years when he is 28 or 29. Besides, that outfield we have now is tearing the cover off the ball.

Yikes! I hate that a losing team won't even make the effort to keep the best players on the roster.

Donald J. Lauridsen of Kingsford, Mich.

KOVACEVIC: There was a good bit of mail on this topic, as one might imagine given Pearce being cut yesterday.

A couple of thoughts on this end ...

• I trust, Donald, that you were not literally suggesting that such a decision would be based solely on spring statistics, for better or worse. Even in Pearce's case, if he were having a terrible spring, one would think all of the above arguments would still apply based on how he performed in real games last season.

• The Pirates have made clear some of their reasons for wanting Pearce in the minors. Let me throw another possibility at you, one that likely will stay unspoken -- or, perhaps, not even considered -- on the team's end: If Pearce is in Pittsburgh now, his major-league clock resumes ticking. And what would be the point of that? Why not have him come up closer to the promotions of the other two top prospects, Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker? Then, all three will function in pretty much the same career window, as far as contractual and competitive purposes. Just saying.

• There is no question in the minds of most that Pearce can hit in the majors right now. But that certainty is nearly as strong regarding how much he could benefit from more time in the outfield.

• Let there be no doubt that, given how early in spring training the Pirates elected to use one of Pearce's options, that there is absolutely nothing going on right now regarding a Xavier Nady trade.

• Wait until the 2008 to decide if the Pirates truly blocked Pearce. Someone, please, remind me to revisit this topic in a September Q&A, where he count up Pearce's major-league at-bats and measure that against what the expectations are right now for that total.

• Bottom line: If Pearce hits the way he did last season, there is no way the Pirates can hold him down. Nor, I am guessing, will they want to.

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Q: Thrilled to see the Pirates signed Ian Snell. Was really surprised to see that it included the first two years of arbitration and at only $8 million guaranteed. Absolutely love it.

So, who is next on their list?

Jeffrey Palombo of Aliquippa

KOVACEVIC: At the moment, the Pirates' only open talks regarding a long-term contract are with Adam LaRoche. The book has not been closed permanently on Matt Capps, but those fell apart just as contact was initiated with Snell earlier this month, and no revival is seen until after the coming season.

Tom Gorzelanny could fit the mold at some point, as could the other young starters with a strong 2008. It is hard to see any of the position players fitting, though, at least for now. If you look at the Cleveland and Colorado methods, they do not take long to lock up even the least experienced players, so long as they provide a convincing impact the way, say, Troy Tulowitzki did. Maybe Steve Pearce could do something like that.

Your view of the Snell contract, Jeffrey, was shared by several other readers in the past 48 hours. And many, like you, were satisfied with the salaries of the guaranteed years you cite, $3 million in 2009 and $4.25 million in 2010. Those would have been Snell's first two years of arbitration.

But I look beyond that to the two years that are club options, one of those for $6.75 million in what would have been the final year of arbitration, $9.25 million in what would have been the first year of free agency, 2012. Consider what quality right-handed starters are getting right now in their first year of free agency, then fast-forward four years to imagine what it might be then.

Hard to complain about that much from the Pirates' perspective, one would think.

From Snell's point of view, he gets exactly what he was seeking -- and trust me, he was seeking it -- which is guaranteed money over a long stretch. He had told me as far back as last summer that he would be happy to part even with a free-agency year, and that held true.

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Q: Do you agree with me that the Pirates' opening-day roster should include Luis Rivas and Doug Mientkiewicz? It seems to me that Rivas is a great glove and a speedy baserunner, and that Doug M. would be a good utility player with a veteran's touch in the clubhouse.

Roger Witke of Des Moines

KOVACEVIC: As I have been hammering out the copy for our Baseball 2008 preview coming in a couple weeks, I have gone over the depth chart myself and, just today, was trying to piece together the same equation.

It would seem to be getting a little late in the game to ask Ryan Doumit to toss aside his catcher's gear and rediscover right field, so let us assume he stays behind the plate.

From there, four spots remain. Chris Gomez will have another, so we are at three.

If Nate McLouth is the center fielder, as seems increasingly likely, Nyjer Morgan probably -- though not definitely -- will go to Indianapolis to keep playing. If that happens, another outfielder who can handle center will be needed, and only Kevin Thompson fits

At any rate, one of those two will stay. And we are down to two.

Taking a pause here, that also leaves one switch-hitter in Doumit and two right-handed bats, assuming Thompson's presence.

Rivas clearly has outperformed Josh Wilson this spring, offensively and defensively, so he is the likely winner of that mini-duel. And, if Rivas is the primary backup at shortstop, it is necessary to have another player who can back up at the corner outfield spots. That could be Mientkiewicz.

Thus, both Rivas and Mientkiewicz would make the team.

But that is nothing more than slotting on my end, not a viewpoint and not something I have heard from the Pirates.

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Q: Hi, Dejan. Masumi Kuwata has now pitched 4 scoreless innings. Is he making a strong enough case to join the big team? Or is this a case of facing later-inning minor-league players?

Pete Wilton of Oakmont

KOVACEVIC: Most of Kuwata's action has come after the other team's top hitters are out, which is yet another of the many great loopholes of spring training statistics. But he has thrown strikes, shown at least passable velocity -- by his standard -- in getting into the high 80s on occasion -- and that big curveball is back in play, too.

Tough hill to climb, though. For one, he is a non-roster pitcher, and the Pirates already have another of those -- Sean Burnett -- having an even better spring. Moreover, he probably would have to beat out Byung-Hyun Kim to get the job, and the Pirates would have to pay Kim $300,000 to go away.

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Until tomorrow ...